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A GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE 



By JAMES TERRY WHITE 



Flowers from Arcadia 

Captive Memories 

For Lovers and Others 

Character Lessons from American Biography 

A Garden of Remembrance 



A Garden of 

Remembrance 



By 



JAMES TERRY WHITE 



NEW YORK 

JAMES T. WHITE & CO. 

1918 



I UOl IT 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



Grateful acknowledgment is made to the respective 
Publishers for permission to use the verses, which are 
reprinted from The Century, Harper's Monthly, Mun- 
sey's, Ainslee's, Independent, Smart Set, Christian 
Register, New York Observer, Boston Transcript, New 
York Sun, Springfield Republican, Pacific Unitarian, 
Art World, and other periodicals. 






Copyright 1917 
By James T. White & Co. 



To 

THE BOY IN KHAKI 

Alas! he is beyond the sea — 

And we are leagues on leagues apart! 
But Love, insistent, 
Saith, "Nay, not so! It cannot be! 

Thou hast not looked within thy heart; 
How is he distant?" 



IN MEMORY 

For him life nothing had to give 

If might the truth and right defied, 

And his great heart would scorn to live 
Had he his country's call denied. 

But life is reft of all desire; 

My heart in agony is dumb; 
Yet all my thoughts of him inspire 

Belief — a larger good will come; 

That, in the anguish, tears and sighs 

Wrung from the wounds of suffering earth, 

Redeemed Humanity descries 

The travail of a world's new birth, 

When helpfulness shall succor need; 

Might shall to Love's appeal respond; 
"All Brothers," be the Nations' creed; 

The will for righteousness, their bond. 

He was a sunny-hearted child; 

His youth so grasped the joy of life 
My thought could not be reconciled 

To have his soul debased by strife. 

And yet my heart was filled with pride, 
That when ideals were jeopardized. 

The call for help was not denied, 
Though even life were sacrificed. 

And now he has returned to me 

From all that storm of shot and shell — 
That horror of uncertainty 

That changed my heaven into hell. 

And unto me has come content; 

They draped the colors o'er his breast, 
A.cclaimed him victor, and he went 

A hero to his well-won rest. 

And though a shade the sunshine bars, 
Beyond my tears there dawns a joy, 

That I, too, helped to keep the stars 
In God's blue sky — he was my boyl 



APPRECIATION 

"For one star differeth from another star in glory." 
Not all writers of verse make the same appeal to the 
same public. That which to some is strong meat, or 
perhaps a savoury tidbit, is to others caviare. It 
cannot be gainsaid that in these days there are many 
carvers and polishers of cherrystones, but if the results 
are good who shall proclaim the labor valueless? It is 
never safe to prophesy that this or that writer will be 
remembered and read in the far-reaching future. Her- 
rick, whom our author resembles in his joy of life and 
May-time spirit, has come safely down the stream of 
time in a tiny shallop, while the producer of many 
a ponderous epic has been engulfed beneath the tide. 
That the poems contained in this little volume are not 
great, in the sense that they are either epical or epochal, 
no one will more readily concede than their unassum- 
ing author; but that there are numerous sweet and 
tender verses here, all of them informed with genuine 
lyrical fire, few who read them will deny. In the house 
of song there are many mansions — some for the "mighty 
mouth'd inventors of harmonies," like the "organ- 
voiced" Milton, and some for those who breathe their 
delicate melodies through oaten straws. Not all of us 
would wish to sit forever listening to the tremendous 
music of the sea; now and then a weary spirit loves 



to loiter by the brookside and hearken to the chiming 
of its fairy bells. So this unpretentious book needs no 
excuse for its being. It has the flavor of the day of 
Suckling, or Sydney, and the singer plays upon the 
chords of the heart with rare touch ; the delicacy of the 
verse reminds one of the exquisite ivory of old 
miniatures. Such lyrics as "Gentle Shepherdess of 
Sheep," "The Thought of You," "Sympathy," and 
"Elusive Happiness" will linger long in the memory. 
If we mistake not, musical composers will find here a 
veritable mine of suggestions — and indeed many of 
these songs have already received a musical setting. 
The attentive reader will easily recall such unforgettable 
lines as — 

"Like violets in an unexpected place." 

"And why should life the future dread? 
Love now hath immortality." 

"A blessedness that far outweighs 
The unforgotten pain," 

and there are many others equally quotable. The poems 
of a religious cast are characterized by a gravity and 
beauty of expression well befitting the solemn nature 
of their theme. But enough. The door is open. Let 
those who will, enter in. 

James B. Kenyon. 



CONTENTS. 

APPRECIATION V 

A GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE. 

PROEM 13 

THE THOUGHT OF YOU 15 

A TRYST WITH SPRING 16 

BETWEEN MY THOUGHT AND THEE 17 

BETWEEN THESE LEAVES 18 

WHEN LOVE AND I WENT MAYING 19 

THE FIRST KISS 19 

THE WHOLE OF LIFE 20 

THE FULLNESS OF DAYS 20 

DREAMS 21 

REMEMBRANCE 21 

MY FIRST SWEETHEART 22 

what's IN A NAME 22 

LARGESSE 23 

THE WILDERNESS WERE PARADISE ENOW 23 

THE SONG WITHOUT WORDS 24 

FROM A ROSEBUD 25 

ASTRAY 26 

A MEMORY OF ITALY 27 

THE POET SINGS 28 

REVISITED 29 

THE FLOWERS OF JUNE 30 

WHENCE IS THIS FRAGRANCE ? 30 

ONLY AN IVY LEAF 31 

CAN I FORGET ? 32 

THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER 33 

THERE isn't ANY ONE TO PLAY WITH ANY MORE. ... 35 

ONLY A LITTLE WHILE 36 

THREE ANGELS 37 

HOPE DEFERRED 37 

THE UNFORGOTTEN PAIN 38 

WITH LOVE FORGOT 38 

MEMORIES OF CORTINA 39 

THANKSGIVING 40 



SYMPATHY 41 

NOT FOR ONE ONLY 41 

l'envoi 42 

IN SA'DI'S ROSE GARDEN. 

TO HOLD FAST MEMORY 44 

IN sa'di's rose garden 45 

I. DOTH FRAGRANCE VANISH WITH THE ROSE? 45 

II. A BREATH OF HEALING 46 

in. EACH MORN A THOUSAND ROSES BRINGS 46 

IV. A GARDEN WRAITH 47 

V. UNFULFILLED DESIRE 48 

VI. THY PERFUMED HEART 49 

VII. SEND ME A ROSE 50 

VIII. A PHANTOM OF DELIGHT 50 

IX. NOT BY BREAD ALONE 51 

X. COMPANIONSHIP 51 

XI. THE WORTH OF A FRIEND 52 

XII. A GIFT OF FLOWERS 52 

ELUSIVE HAPPINESS 53 

THE BIRTH OF AFFECTION 54 

SHE GAVE ME A ROSE 55 

PROPOSAL 56 

SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT 56 

A SUPPLIANT 57 

IN SPRINGES DISGUISE 58 

THE CLUE 58 

MY FRIEND 59 

CAMARADERIE 60 

SONG 61 

THE JOY OF LOVING dl 

BEAUTY 63 

YET SHE HEARS NOT 64 

love's RECOMPENSE 65 

l'envoi 66 

IN ARCADY. 

TO ARCADY HAST NEVER BEEN ? 68 



POETRY 69 

THE TRANSFORMATION 70 

SOMEBODY 70 

THE BLUE BIRD 71 

THE BLUE bird's RETURN 72 

THOU SHALT CALL AND I WILL ANSWER 72> 

COMPLAINT TO SPRING 74 

spring's RETURN 75 

ADMIRATION 76 

WHEN IT IS DAY 76 

REFUSAL 77 

THY FACE 77 

EXILED FROM LOVE 78 

ONLY THE SONG 78 

WHEN LOVE IS DONE 79 

AUF WIEDERSEHEN 79 

"send FOR me" 80 

THE ECHO OF A SONG 81 

THE SNOW IS IN MY HAIR 82 

JUNE IN CORTINA 83 

ABSENCE 84 

THE UNATTAINED 84 

TO KNOW LOVE CARETH STILL 85 

love's SONG SINGS EVER 85 

ENTREATY 86 

MARRIAGE 87 

EPITHALAMIUM 88 

PATERNITY 89 

BIRTHDAY 90 

MORE TO BE EESIRED THAN GOLD 91 

CHRISTMAS 92 

TRUE PATRIOTISM 93 

NEW YEAR 94 

music in the air 95 

l'envoi 96 

AFTERGLOW. 

THE SYMBOL 98 



CONSIDER THE LILIES 99 

WHAT THE CHILD-SOUL SAID TO THE MOTHER 100 

WHY FEAR ? 101 

EASTER 103 

A WHISPER OF HEAVEN 104 

THEN COMETH THE NIGHT 104 

THE CALL OF THE SEA 105 

SINGING HARP-STRINGS 106 

A BRIDAL SONG 106 

HEAVEN IS HERE 107 

THE DIVINE SECRET 108 

THE VISION FROM THE HEIGHTS 109 

THE MOUNTAINS ARE HIS TEMPLE 110 

THE NEW DAWN Ill 

AN EASTER THOUGHT 112 

HEAVEN ENFOLDS US ALL 112 

IN HIS SERVICE 112 

LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW 113 

SUFFER THE CHILDREN 114 

A GOLDEN WEDDING 115 

THE MASTER SAITH 116 

love's ETERNAL TROTH 117 

EYE HATH NOT SEEN 118 

BE YE COMFORTED 119 

TRUST 120 

PARTING 121 

TRANSLATIONS 122 

THE FEET OF CLAY 123 

"and keep THE DOOR AJAR" 123 

BEYOND THE WALL 124 

IF HEARTS ARE DUST 125 

LIFE MAY HAVE NEED OF DEATH 126 

HOPE 127 

HOLD THOU MY HANDS 128 

EVENTIDE 129 

THE CALLING VOICES 130 

SUNSET 131 

l'envoi 132 



A GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE 

'The heart is a garden; remembrance is its sweetest 
flower." 



PROEM 

yf SINGER sitting in the sun 
-^^ Found that the gift of love outweighs 
All others when the day is done. 
And is the only joy that stays. 

Because his soul's affections stir, 

To him the rose but typified 
The charm and loveliness of her 

Whose beauty blessed and satisfied. 

He knew love's tender touch and "Hail," 
That turn earth's mournful sigh to smile; 

He saw the vision of the Grail, 
And so he sang of love, the while. 

He felt that in the ordered round 

Of Nature, life is incomplete, 
If soul is by no Future crowned. 

And so this hope his songs repeat. 

He strove on chords of tenderness 

To play, if haply he who hears 
May find a quiet happiness 

That banishes regret and tears. 

Though in the structure of his lays 

There he no minaret nor spire, 
Within, the incense and the praise 

May quicken all the soul's desire. 



13 



These songs keep whispering in my ear, 

From every bird and rill and tree, 
Of memories so sweet and dear, 
I needs must strive, with smile and tear. 
To tempt them to captivity. 

Bound into verse, they are the fee 

Most willingly my glad heart pays 
Unto the boatman, Memory, 
Who ferries me o'er time to thee. 
The inspiration of my lays. 



14 



THE THOUGHT OF YOU 

I THOUGHT of you; 
What wireless voices of the air 
Insistent beat upon my ear, 
Till, somehow, I am made aware 

Of you, and know that you are near, 
Because I thought of you. 

I think of you; 
And the sweet thought a fragrance lends 

To every place where I may be ; 
So sweet — I know that it portends 
That you are thinking, too, of me. 
The while I think of you. 

I think of you; 
And I forget life's sordid whirl. 

The thwarted hope, the baffled aim. 
In the enjoyment of that Pearl 
Beyond the price of wealth and fame, 
I have received from you. 

The thought of you — 
Fond memories and hopes it blends ; 

From sore dejection keeps me free; 
It for your absence makes amends 
To know that you still think of me, 
And wake my thought of you. 



15 



My thought of you — 
Even love not more of joy reveals 

Unto my heart; and is love aught 
But what the heart perceives and feels, 
And then makes captive to the thought — 
As mine enfoldeth you? 



A TRYST WITH SPRING 

THERE is magic in the sunshine, 
There's a spell in every breeze; 
There's a call in leaf and blossom 

For a tryst with flov/ers and trees, 
And a witchery of fragrance 

Breathes enchantment on the air. 
Is the lure, the flowers and fragrance? 
Or, the hope to find you there? 



16 



BETWEEN MY THOUGHT AND THEE 

THE past hath boasted of its wonders seven; 
The present hath its marvels yet more fair, 
Of wireless bridges of the sentient air. 
Of foaming torrents spanned and mountains riven ; 

But I have reared a structure, rarer even, 

That reaches to the skies — an ethereal stair, 
Whose deep foundations rest upon my care — 

The bridge between my thought and thee and Heaven. 

Vain boast, that I this marvel have achieved; 

Such graceful shafts of beauty I ne'er planned, 
Such arches, with their golden pillars, sheaved 

Of sunshine, and with loveliness o'er-spanned. 
And towers of blessedness — I ne'er conceived; 

Nay, nayl I builded not, it was thy hand. 



17 



BETWEEN THESE LEAVES 

BETWEEN these leaves a fruitage grows, 
Which in perpetual sunshine glows; 
It cheers the heart, dries tear-filled eyes, 
And with a breath of Paradise 
Scents every breeze that through them blows. 

Besides this harvest which bestows 
On all refreshment and respose, 
For you, another hidden lies 
Between these leaves : — 

Friendship, untouched by winter snows; 
Ripened affection that outgrows 

This earthly clime, and death defies; 

And memories — these but comprise 
A tithe of what my thoughts enclose 
Between these leaves. 



18 



WHEN LOVE AND I WENT MAYING 

WHEN Love and I went maying, all ablaze 
With beauty were the woods, and blooming sprays 
Dropped showers of petaled sweetness on the air. 
I never knew the world could be so fair, 
Or that the May could pipe such tuneful lays. 

And heart and soul were lost in such a maze 
Of happiness, that evening's purple haze 
Stole down on that fair day, all unaware. 
When Love and I went maying. 

I said to Love, "Let us not part; our ways 
Are one." Love looked at me with wistful gaze, 
And answered, "Where thou farest I will fare." 
And Love has kept through life that promised care ; 
But memory treasures still those perfumed days, 
When Love and I went maying. 

THE FIRST KISS 

IS touch of lips all of a kiss? 
It is a touch of hearts, a thought 
Of heaven, a golden woof of bliss 

Into life's homely warp enwrought. 
Thereafter, life is never quite the same ; 
That thread of gold embroiders it with flame. 



19 



THE WHOLE OF LIFE 

TO some a little thing love seems ; 
To me it is the whole of life's pursuit, 
The only inspiration of my lute; 
Love opens vistas of delights, 
Leads me to unimagined heights 
Of happiness, and vouchsafes gleams 
That lift my thoughts to lovelier dreams; 
It brings new ravishment 
From ever fresh displays of charm and grace. 

Like the enticing scent 
Of violets in an unexpected place. 



THE FULLNESS OF DAYS 

NO longer uneventful are my days; 
So full are they of pageants of the past, 
So crowded with sweet thoughts that tune my lays, 
So redolent of a remembered rose 
That blossomed in youth's garden — and still blows — 
Each day seems more transcendent than the 
last. 



20 



DREAMS 

GENTLE shepherdess of dreams, 
From the vales of singing streams, 
From the mountains of dehght, 
Gather in my heart to-night 
All the scattered flocks of bliss, 
Folded in love's fostering kiss ! 
Pastured thus in memory, 
Why should I seek Arcady? 

Let me send, sweet friend, to you 
Garlanded with violets blue, 

These dear waifs — if haply they 

In your memory may stay. 
As they crowd about your feet, 
Heed your footsteps, I entreat. 

And step lightly, as beseems, 

Lest you tread upon love's dreams. 



REMEMBRANCE 

IS there in your "heart's garden" 
Remembrance of a rose 
That still persists in blooming, 
Despite of winter snows? 



21 



MY FIRST SWEETHEART 

YEARS cannot dull the thoughts I hold 
Of days when at her side was heaven; 
But she was only twelve years old, 
And I — I was not yet eleven. 

Though sunset's sheen is in her hair, 
The dew of morning yet remains ; 

And still, of time all unaware, 
Her heart the bloom of youth retains. 

Her hands still keep their 'customed zeal — 
Such kindly hands that never knew, 

So stirred with their desire to heal. 
That aught were easier to do. 

Yet with the change, I only see 

That little girl of long ago. 
Feel her responsive lips — ah mel 

Can age the bliss of youth outgrow! 



WHAT'S IN A NAME? 

ENTANGLED in these simple, singing chimes 
Lingers a memory of olden times, 
Lost for a while, but later found again; 
Enshrined within my mind and heart, my pen 
Needs but her name to beautify the rhymes. 

22 



LARGESSE 

WHY is it thoughts of her take wing 
In every place? 
That in my heart the birds all sing? 
That lovely objects ever bring 

To me her face, 
To which new charms and beauty cling 
With added grace? 

And when I seek love's blessedness 

To realize, 
'Tis not that I her heart possess, 
It is in my own love's largesse 

The great joy lies — 
That I myself may love and bless, 

And kiss her eyes. 

THE WILDERNESS WERE PARADISE ENOW 

THE nightingale all through the night 
Responsive sings with silver throat, 
But how can I sweet songs indite, 
Without an answering note? 

Sometimes I dream the bird has flown, 
So deep and lone the silence reigns; 
Yet, how can I e'er be alone, 
. When memory remains? 

— Set to music by Lisa Lehman. 

23 



THE SONG WITHOUT WORDS 

LURED by conspiring skies and breeze, 
We strolled beneath remembered trees, 
To take our last farewell. 
The witching stillness of the wood 
Made even silence understood, 
So much we dared not tell; 

For now the time had come to part, 
And that we both possessed a heart 

Alas ! we had forgot. 
We looked into each other's eyes, 
And both saw there the Paradise 

Forbidden to our lot. 

Yet heart clasped heart and lip met lip. 
In seal of soul's companionship, 

Forgetting 'twas farewell. 
Then coming from I know not where 
A song filled all the summer air, 

And bound me in its spell. 

Was it a bird that sang that song, 
Which in my memory has dwelt long, 

And which still satisfies? 
Was it a bird, or my own heart? 
For now it seems no more a part 

Of wood, or breeze, or skies. 



24 



Though years have sped, and fate ordains 
We ne'er shall meet, that tryst remains 

A fadeless immortelle; 
And ever in my heart that song 
Sings on, hope's promise to prolong, 

Regardless of farewell. 



FROM A ROSEBUD 

WHO from a rosebud can bring forth a rose? 
Yet cometh one with a song and a smile, 
And in its bosom an ecstasy glows, 
Thrilling its heart till its petals unclose. 
And with its fragrance love-longings beguile. 

Only a smile and a song I But wherein 
Lies the great secret — ^the key to this power?. 

Deeper than life must its birth-throes begin; 

Soul must meet soul where the nebulae spin; 
Hearts must be one, to engender love's flower. 



25 



A 



ASTRAY 

KISS is but a fleeting thing — 
A singing bird upon the wing; 
And yet, remembered through the years, 
Remembered with both joy — and tears. 



'Tis like the Alpine gentian flower; 

Though seeming born but for an hour, 
Its roots reach to the Tyrol's heart, 
And take of its immortal part. 

Affection loses half its bliss, 
If not companioned with a kiss ; 
And life is lonely, if bereft 
Of the sweet guerdon love has left. 

The kisses that keep flowers abloom 

In life's deserted, empty room, 

Too rarely to the heart come nigh 
For one to lightly pass them by. 

And in each heart there is a grave. 
Where bended knees forever crave 
Some alms of memory, to repay 
For one lost kiss — that went astray. 

But if it be one singing bird 
Across the distance still is heard, 

What wraith of hopelessness can rise 
To cloud the path to Paradise? 

26 



So, though it be a fleeting thing — 

A singing bird upon the wing. 

Take heed it goeth not astray, 

For you may need that kiss some day. 



A MEMORY OF ITALY 

IN the still depths of her clear eyes 
I see Tyrolean lakes of blue, 
And know not whether 'tis the hue, 
Reflected from Italian skies, 

Or from her heart's deep tenderness. 
I see again cathedral heights 

New tinted with a glowing sheen, 
And know not whether 'tis a scene 
Remembered, or the newer lights 
Of a transfigured happiness. 



27 



THE POET SINGS 

THE poet sings — perchance of woods and streams, 
And the poor prisoner, bound in city walls, 
Forgets the bondage of his lot, and dreams 
He hears again the far-off forest-calls. 
The lullaby of brooks and waterfalls. 
And sees Heaven's stair in sunlight's slanting beams. 

The poet sings — and quickened memory 

Rewakes the harmonies of past delights : — 

Affection's half-forgotten melody. 

The wistful, wooing lay that love indites, 
The singing silence in the star-lit nights — 

More musical than any mistrelsy. 

The poet sings — and even listless ears 

Hear mingled melodies unheard till now: — 

The harmony of the revolving spheres, 

The onward rush of life's adventurous prow, 
The benediction of the bending bough, 

The growing bond which all mankind endears. 



28 



REVISITED 

AS I retread the lane that stands 
Between my youth and Arcady, 
Even the grass waves welcome hands, 
And all the wild flowers nod to me. 

Again the birds tell where is hid 
A little nest beneath the eaves, 

And croon of nestlings, cradled mid 
The woven softness of its leaves. 

"The Pines" breathe low a boyhood air; 

"The Mall" brings back a lover's tryst: 
This gate recalls where golden hair, 

Entangled in my heart, was kissed. 

Each step with memories is rife, 
As I retread youth's dear domain ; 

What more is there to ask of life, 
When I go down this Lover's Lane? 

The absent ones, they are not dead; 

Unseen they come to welcome me; 
And why should life the future dread? 

Love now hath immortality. 



29 



THE FLOWERS OF JUNE 



THESE flowers of June 
The gates of memory unbar; 
These flowers of June 
Such old-time harmonies retune, 
I fain would keep the gates ajar, 
So full of sweet enchantment are 
These flowers of June. 

II 

Was it the bloom of the laurel sprays, 

That wakened remembrance of singing birds? 

Or, was it the charm of remembered words, 
That set my heart singing through somber days? 

I longed for the summer-time, flower and tree; 

And lo! the summer-time came with thee. 
The bloom is no more, but the charm still stays. 



WHENCE IS THIS FRAGRANCE? 

WHENCE is this fragrance, my senses delighting? 
Is it the roses, affection brings me — 
Troth of the passionate Springtime replighting? 
Nay; 'tis my Thought — from thinking of thee. 



30 



ONLY AN IVY LEAF! 

ONLY an ivy leaf! 
Remnant of dreams and of hope forward winging, 
Blown from my youth, sweet memories bringing, 

Keeping my heart from grief. 
Keeping the rapture, when life was all singing, 
Love but a kiss — and its fragrance still clinging, 
All from an ivy leaf ! 

Only an ivy leaf ? 
Thousands of yesterdays hide in its keeping; 
Years only add to the measure still heaping 

Surety to heart's belief. 
I have made truce with death: there'll be no weeping, 
If at the end, love will bring to my reaping 

Only this ivy leaf. 

Only an ivy leaf 
Out of the past. While its joy still confessing. 
Out of the present comes new efflorescing. 

Even though held in fief 
Just for companionship. Ah! but the blessing, 
If from your bounty my thought were caressing 

Only an ivy leaf ! 



31 



CAN I FORGET? 

CAN I forget the fragrance, 
That perfumed all my way — 
That turned the gray-haired winter 
Into perpetual May? 

Can I forget the soothing 
Of gentle, willing hands, 

That bound the wounds of failure 
With pity's healing bands? 

Can I forget the hand-clasp. 
When friendship was begun — 

The smiles and tears of passion, 
The kiss, that made us one? 

There may be a forgetting 
Of love and hope now fled. 

Of bliss and parting anguish, 
Dear heart — when I am dead. 



32 



THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER 

OLOVE, teach me the prayer that Nature prays, 
While lowly kneeling, 
I seek celestial paths to truth and ways 
Of heavenly healing! 

Light Thou the lamp of love within my heart. 

And keep it burning! 
Not love of me, be made the greater part 

Of love's returning, 

But mine, that holdeth all humanity 

In its enfolding; 
That giveth all, in lavish charity, 

And nought withholding. 

The bees, the flowers, the grass touch heart and lip 

In constant wooing. 
And all earth's creatures seek companionship. 

Life's end pursuing. 

But these are loves — not Love; so great a thing 

Is love eternal. 
Thought may not reach with utmost stretch of wing 

Its heights supernal; 

The stars are but the dust beneath Love's feet. 

Yet this immortal 
Can be held close between two hearts that meet 

Within life's portal, 

33 



And be enmeshed in the enfolding net 

Of earth's existence; 
Within the mother's arms its joy is set 

With sweet persistence; 

Friends clasp its hand, and wedded lives have part 

In its caresses; 
Great minds, deep natures and the pure in heart 

Find its recesses. 

The soul finds in this love a heavenly tie, 

Ever believing 
The intimations of the things that lie 

Beyond perceiving — 

Not seen, but known ; of things not held, but felt ; 

Of things not measured 
In certainty, but in rich promise dealt. 

And in hope treasured. 

Love breathes eternity, and the soul knows 

By intuition. 
Love immortality on life bestows 

For its fruition. 

L^ENVOI 

To me there comes today assurance clear, 

Without restriction. 
That love finds its fruition even here — 

And benediction; 

34 



How can I of Love's bounty be bereft, 

Or lose its blessing, 
When you a pearl of memory have left 

For my possessing? 

May love's clear flame be lighted in your heart 

For life's sojourning 1 
And would that I had some small grace and art 

To keep it burning 1 



THERE ISN'T ANY ONE TO PLAY 

WITH ANY MORE 

{The Last Words of Mark Twain) 

THE glow is fading from the western sky, 
And one by one my comrades, as of yore. 
Have given up their play, and said, good-bye; 
There isn't any one to play with any more ! 

Don't cry, dear heart! for I am worn and old; 

No longer have I gifts within my store; 
E'en love's best gifts to me, I could not hold; 

There isn't any one to play with any morel 

I miss the tender hand-clasp of old friends, 
The kisses of the loved ones gone before; 

'Tis lonely, when the heart first comprehends 
There isn't any one to play with any more! 
35 



ONLY A LITTLE WHILE 

ONLY a little while 
May we together stay, 
For onward both must fare 
Upon the way. 

Only a little while 

Can we our cheer prolong — 
Your tender, helpful touch. 

My simple song! 

And when the day is done, 
And ashes quench the fire. 

We each will say, farewell, 
And slay desire. 

We go our separate ways ; 

But how can we forget. 
As the slow years go by. 

That we have met! 

For one, 'twill ever be 

A golden episode — 
An oasis of rest, 

Upon the road. 

And you? — how will it be 
With you? Can you forget? 

Will it, too, be a loss 
And a regret? 

36 



THREE ANGELS 

WHEN all the world was fair and life was new, 
Three angels came to me, who brought the clue 
To heaven. One was love — by birth, divine; 
One, hope — light of the way, and one was — you. 

Love brought to earth the music of the spheres; 
Hope bade the heart to listen through its tears; 

And you — you were the sweet interpreter 
Of Heaven's strains to earth's untutored ears. 

First you took flight. Earth had no witchery 
To tempt delight, or win affection's plea; 

Then hope lost heart, and with despairing tears 
Departed, leaving only — love and me. 

But love has stayed with me the long way through ; 
And, disappointment's burden to undo. 

Has brought me new and not less dear delights — 
The deathless memories of hope — and you. 



HOPE DEFERRED 

EMPTY of happiness life slips away, 
Leaving deferred the hope I most esteem. 
Let not the winter sunset of my day 
Enfold me, — with love's promise gone astray, 
Nor fail of the fulfillment of my dream 1 

37 



THE UNFORGOTTEN PAIN 

OLOVE thy flower I have pressed 
Against my heart all torn; 
But while it fondly was caressed, 
It pierced me with its thorn. 

That wound has left my heart forlorn, 

For ere I knew it pained. 
The flower faded with the morn, 

And only pain remained. 

My flower gathering is o'er; 

The autumn sunset wanes; 
The flowers I gathered are no more — 

Only the pain remains. 

And yet the flower's fragrance stays; 

Its memories remain 
A blessedness, that far outweighs 

The unforgotten pain. 



WITH LOVE FORGOT 

OF all accomplishment dismembered 
Is life, with love forgot — 
When I, alas ! am unremembered, 
And I remember not. 

38 



MEMORIES OF CORTINA 

MEMORIES of Alpine heights, 
Argosies of wine and myrrh, 
Rarest of all rare delights 
Gather round the thought of her. 
Aromas of the hills and vines 
Rival her footsteps to proclaim; 
Even in these simple lines 
Trails the fragrance of her name. 

My friend, I wonder if this Autumn rose 
About your path its pristine fragrance throws? 
Recalls a mingled scent of rose and rhyme, 
Garnered from memories of a summer-time? 
And e'en though fate may cast it in the mire, 
Reft of its trellis it will still aspire; 
E'en though it be tossed under heedless feet, 
To him who sends it 'twill be ever sweet. 

Must I blot out that golden gleam 
Athwart the pathway of delight ; 
Return to silence and the night; 
Give up that new-found Pearl, beyond 
All price, because my over-fond 
Restrainless hopes insistent dream — 
E'en as the lilies in the bud 
Try their sweet promise to redeem? 



39 



THANKSGIVING 

WITHIN our hearts what happy memories well 
To-day, and a new thankfulness compel! 
The bygone years return with only their 
Remembered tenderness, and, unaware 
Of age and change, the old-time love retell. 

But while we feast, we cannot quite dispel 
Regret for lost ones whom we love so well. 
Yet why thus grieve ? There is no vacant chair 
Within our hearts. 

Ah I friends, does not this constant love foretell 
A future greeting, for each last farewell? 

Even to-day we tread the Heavenly stair, 

And now their immortality we share, 
If our beloved ones thus ever dwell 
Within our hearts. 



40 



SYMPATHY 

SIMPLY a touch of the hand, 
One little word ; 
Sunshine spread over the land; 
Then sang a bird. 

Sunshine may give place to rain, 

Hope be deferred; 
But through the loss and the pain, 

Still sings the bird. 

— Set to music by Liza Lehman. 



NOT FOR ONE ONLY 

NOT for One only— although she be dearest; 
Not for the loved ones, affection has gained; 
But for all hearts, who have seen the Rose-vision, 
E'en though the Rose may be still unattained. 

For the forgotten whose love dream is over; 

Those, who still water dead flow'rs in love's room; 
For those glad lovers whose hopes are accomplished; 

For all who love — are these rose-thoughts in bloom. 

More than my thought are these verses enfolding; 

Others will find, that for them they contain 
Memories sweet, that their own love is holding — 

Holding in trust until hearts meet again. 



41 



L'ENVOI 

/KNOW the garment of my praise 
Is neither beautiful nor new; 
'Tis made for warmth on wintry days; 
Still it may charm in other ways, 
For you will find, if hem you raise. 
The broidery of my thought of you. 

As greeting for life's festal days, 

I send these gathered thoughts, in lieu 
Of fading flowers or costly vase. 
To be, perchance, a song of praise — 
A blessedness which with me stays. 
If I the joy may share with you. 



42 



IN SA'DI'S ROSE GARDEN 



rO hold fast memory, trust not fleeting flowers 
To deck your wassail bowls and lover's bowers! 
These earth-born blossoms wither all too soon; 
A rose blooms only for a few short hours. 

But here, a book of roses has been made, 
In which the perfumes of the past are laid. 

When flowers wither then remembrance flies, 
But roses from this book will never fade. 

— Paraphrased from the 

Preface of Sa'di's Guilistan." 



44 



IN SA'DFS ROSE GARDEN 



I 

Doth Fil\grance Vanish With- The Rose? 

O HAPLESS Vase! And how doth it befall 
Thy cast-out fragments so much scent enclose? 
This sweetness is not of myself at all, 
But once, O Sa'di, once I held a rose. 

Blest lot! With me a sweetness also stays; 

It scents the chamber of my dreams, and strows 
With happy, perfumed memories my days; 

Keeps life abloom. I, too, once held a Rose. 

How could these idle songs of mine perfume 
Another's empty vase ; or tune life's prose 

To poetry — keep memory abloom 
With joy, unless I once had held a rose? 



45 



II 

A Breath of Healing 

WHENCE comes this draught of healing for the soul 
With all the mj'-stery of hope, the toll 
Of joy, and promise of such peace and rest, 
That makes life's broken chalice once more whole? 

Is it a breeze of lily-scented May 

From verdant plains ; or memories of Cathay 

That with the caravans of attar come? 
It is her bosom's fragrant breath astray? 

Ill 

Each Morn a Thousand Roses Brings 

SHE is so sweet, 
The clover-blossoms eager stand 
To kiss her feet; 
While I, who may not kiss her hand, 
Bless all the wild flowers in the land. 

She is so fair. 
The wanton breeze vies with the bee 

To kiss her hair; 
And all the froward world seems free 
To take what she denies to me. 



46 



IV 

A Garden Wraith 

SWEET presence, that so charms my soul, 
Must thou forever be unviewed? 
Must thou my longing ne'er console — 
My seeking arms always elude? 

Art thou a disembodied joy? 

Love's lost delight now sought in vain? 
A memory, time cannot cloy, 

Of passion's ecstasy — and pain? 

No, Sa'di; hut I can atone 

For life's arrears; my breath bestows 
A gift, to all but thee unknown; 

I am the Fragrance of a Rose. 



47 



V 

Unfulfilled Desire 

AROSE; Life hath unnumbered roses strown 
Across my path; and they were all so fair, 
I did not note if one, perchance, had thrown 
Its branches round my heart — and still clings there. 

But once I found in far off Khorassan 
Earth's perfect bloom — an exquisite, white rose; 

It blossomed high above the reach of man. 
Peerless and pure as its own mountain snows. 

Afar I watched its growth and grace sublime. 

Its ever-new surprises of delight — 
Ah, Allah 1 if I could but upward climb 

Unto the rare perfection of that height! 

Still strive, Sa'di! To the unattained 

Thy poet soul forever must aspire; 
My virgin bloom to thee were naught, if gained; 

I am the Rose of unfulfilled desire. 



48 



VI 

Thy Perfumed Heart 

OROSE of my desire, through all my days 
The beauty of thy fragrant perfectness 
Will yearnings of the heart and soul upraise, 
And all the energies of mind impress. 

And if life's ministry may not suffice 
To gain what I have sought with utmost breath, 

Life even will I give to pay the price. 
And on glad wings will seek thee — after death. 

For what is death? Only life's battle fought; 

A folding of the hands from care's release; 
A gathering mist o'erclouding sight and thought; 

Then Allah's greeting voice, With thee be peace! 

An interval of blissful, dreamless rest; 

And then a song voiced by the starry choir 
That wakens to new life ; then thy white breast 

And perfumed heart, O Rose of my desire! 



49 



VII 

Send Me a Rose 

SEND me a rose — imprinting 
A kiss of your content; 
What if its blush is hinting, 
The rose holds more than scent ?- 

A rose of your own tending 
That grafts your gentleness 

Upon its beauty, blending 
Its grace with your caress. 

May not one rosebud growing 
Within your garden close, 

Be trusted with the knowing 
Your kiss hides in the rose? 

VIII 
, A Phantom of Delight 

IS it a rose. 
Or but a phantom of delight 
That only blows 
Upon imagination's height? 

Or a love-spell? 
Blent with the perfume of her heart, 

I cannot tell 
Its fragrance and her love apart. 

Within its bloom 
So much of joy it holds for me. 

There is but room 
In it for love and me — and thee. 
SO 



I 



IX 

Not by Bread Alone 

F thou of fortune be bereft, 
And thou dost find but two loaves left 
To thee — sell one, and with the dole 
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul. 



But not alone does beauty bide 

Where bloom and tint and fragrance hide; 

The minstrel's melody may feed 

Perhaps a more insistent need. 

But even beauty, howe'er blent 
To ear or eye, fails to content; 

Only the heart, with love afire, 

Can satisfy the soul's desire. 

X 

Companionship 

TRUE friendship brings the heart delight and rest. 
In which life's lasting memories are blent; 
Companionship is friendship at its best, 
And more — it is fulfillment of love's quest, 
The consummation of the heart's content. 



51 



XI 

The Worth of a Friend 

TEACH me, Beloved, how to make 
My life as beautiful as thine; 
Like thee, to live for others' sake, 
And share with all my oil and wine! 

Teach me, in lavish alms, like thee 
The harvest of my heart to spend! 

Nay! nay! No virtue is in me — 
My inspiration is a Friend. 

Love taught that giving is to pray; 

That bounteous gifts increase one's store; 
And Hyacinths, if given away, 

But feed the famished soul the more. 

XII 

A Gift of Flowers 

WILT thou befriend these flowers I send- 
A tribute all too slender 
For what thy thought to me hath brought 
Out of its lavish splendor? 

They're meant to grace an empty vase, 

And bear a fragrance tender; 
If lost, the scent, take the intent, 

With greetings of the sender. 



ELUSIVE HAPPINESS 

THIS faint aroma of the Box, 
Eluding all attempt to find 
Wherein it lies — 
Is it love's spirit, memory locks 

In haunted chambers of the mind. 
When friendship dies? 

Or, is it the divine caress 

Love promises — but ne'er bestows — 
Which still invites? 
The phantom of a happiness 

That vanished with the earliest rose — 
But yet delights? 

Is it the song of last year's bird? 
The ghost of the unspoken word 
Love ventured not, 
When love looked back, then went his way? 
The unvoiced word love meant to say — 
And then forgot? 



53 



THE BIRTH OF AFFECTION 

WAS it a dream, 
Or, but a wakened singing bird? 
Why did it seem 
So like reality? It stirred 
My soul with its delicious strain 

To joy supreme — 
Then fled to its retreat again. 

Was it a sigh, 
That from an overburdened heart 

Came wandering by? 
To give it shelter every art 
I tried, if I, perchance, its quest 

Might satisfy. 
But what have I for such a guest? 

Was it a smile? 
'Twas tenderness and sweetness blent, 

Which all the while 
Like summer sunshine, came and went. 
Ah 1 can I e'er obtain the grace, 

That may beguile 
Such sweetness from its hiding-place? 



54 



Was it a hope? 
It was a glimmer in the night, 

Wherein I grope, 
Which I would woo to brighter light 
Of comradeship. Could I but stand 

Within its scope, 
I then might find the Promised Land. 

What was it, dear? 
A dream?— a hope?— a smile?— a sigh? 

It was sincere 
And fond affection's wistful cry; 
The warmth of friendship's genial fire 

And gentle cheer ;— 
The blossoming of heart's desire. 



SHE GAVE ME A ROSE 

SHE gave me a rose 
When I asked for a kiss; 
Am I to suppose 
She gave me a rose. 
Her heart to disclose, 

Or my suit to dismiss ? 
Yet she gave me a rose, 
When I asked for a kiss. 



55 



PROPOSAL 

ABIDE with me, O gentle guestl 
Thy presence brings to me sweet rest; 
Thy hands bring soothing to my brow ; 
Thy words such sympathy avow, 
Thy going leaves me all unblest. 

Still fairer shall thy bower be dressed; 
Anticipated each request; 

One song thy life shall be, if thou 
Abide with me. 

I would not longer have thee guest; 
I cannot hold thee uncaressed 

So near my heart. Sweet love, be thou 
My bride; Love's tenderest name allow, 
And ever in his happy nest 
Abide with me. 

— 5"^/ to music by Ethelbert Nevin. 



SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT 

WHEN we so near each other sail, 
And see the other's signal light, 
Must we miss one another's Hail, 
Like ships that pass in the night? 



56 



A SUPPLIANT 

HER face sometimes in deep regret 
Is sad, I know; 
Her eyes sometimes with tears are wet — 
Like a dew-laden violet — 

And overflow; 
Her heart sometimes I grieve — and yet 
I love her so. 

A suppliant, I tell my beads, 

With tears and sighs, 
Till her compassion intercedes 
With love, to pardon thoughtless deeds. 

My one joy flies 
If she my love no longer needs, 

And her love — dies. 

And at her feet on bended knees 

In tears I pray, 
"Come back, come back ! Your own heart sees 
That life hath nought for me but lees 

With you away. 
I want that little flower, Heartsease, 

To keep for aye." 



57 



IN SPRING'S DISGUISE 

SHE came youth-bosomed, cherry-cheeked with 
sunshine, 
And all the flowers came forth to kiss her feet; 
The bees retuned their humming to her singing. 
And all the birds her song strove to repeat. 

She came, attired in apple-bloom and fragrance- 
God's promise diademed upon her brow. 

Men saw her radiant youth, and called her. Springtime ; 
But Sweetheart, only I knew it was — thou. 



THE CLUE 

WHEN my spirits droop low and life's strivings 
seem vain, 
It is you, who revives and uplifts them again; 

And the thread unto which I hold fast as the clue 
To lead back from this maze of dejection — is you. 



58 



MY FRIEND 

MY gentle Friend: 
I call her "Friend" ; what other name 
A nearer fellowship can claim? 
A lover's ardor might confer 
A tenderer name awhile on her; 
A husband's pride for brief space might 
In some sweet, household name delight; 
But I — I call her simply "Friend" — 
The name in which all others blend. 

What doth she send? 
She sends approving words of cheer; 
To all my grief lends listening ear ; 
And burdens which she cannot share, 
With gentle counsel helps me bear. 

Whate'er our will. 
It lies not always in our power 
To light another's darkest hour; 
But to relieve and heal, while he 
Endures alone his agony — 
This is true friendship's gift benign, 
And is above all gifts divine. 
This gift she is to me — a rest, 
A joy, that ever makes me blest, 

And more blest still. 

And what have I to give my friend, 
Worth half the blessings that attend 

59 



Her constant ministry? Can I 
A single need of hers supply 

With my poor flowers? 
I only know, when I would bless, 
I must all loving words repress, 
Count every eager impulse vain ; 
What gifts can my poor hands contain, 

For her dark hours? 
I may but hold her till the end 
In that sweet, faithful word, "My Friend." 



CAMARADERIE 

I 

NOT frequent speech, nor even length of years 
Is it, on which a comradeship depends — 
Nor ties of blood. A smile ofttimes endears; 
A pressure of the hand — -and we are friends. 

II 

A friend is the gift that one gives to one's self — 

Too valued to be the gift of another; 
But far above wisdom or beauty or pelf 

Is a comrade — the gift that we give to each other. 



60 



SONG 

COULD I but hide me in a rose, 
And, pillowed on her gentle breast, 
Against her maiden heart respose, 
And be unconsciously caressed 1 

Could I but hide me in a rose, 
That I might in her bosom lie! 

I would such gentleness disclose 
As would its tenderness outvie. 

Could I but hide me in a rose. 
That I might breathe about her heart 

The blithe contentment love bestows — 
Its joy and me she could not part! 

Could I but hide me in a rose, 

I would such blissful fragrance breathe. 
Her heart would waken, and, who knows? 

I might her bridal garland wreathe! 



61 



THE JOY OF LOVING 

IS it so wonderful 
That from the round of daily strife, 
I rest awhile, and flowers cull 

To feed my hungry soul and life? 
The joy of a sweet memory 
Is not so great a mystery. 

But why should ever I complain, 

If in my love she hath no part? 
Sufficient unto me the gain, 

That she lives ever in my heart. 

The thought of her my soul inspires — 
A ministry that never tires. 

Today the Springtime wakes again 

The flowers from winter's trance of snow ; 
The wine of youth is in each vein, 

Love's rose, close to my heart. What though 
She may no thought on me confer? 
I still have left my love for her. 



62 



BEAUTY 

SAID the rose unto the reed: — 
"Thou art but a worthless weed; 
Why should'st thou to fame aspire, 
Who art sprung but from the mire? 

"Royal is my line and state; 
Honored most at feast and fete; 
In every lover's heart a guest; 
Chosen for my lady's breast; 

"Through all ages bards have sung— 
In all lands, in every tongue — 
Of my loveliness and grace, 
Granting me the honored place. 

"Why thus hold thy head so high? 
Thinkest thou with me to vie ? 
Graceless offspring of the fen. 
Of what use art thou to men?" 

Said the reed: — "Though graceless, thin, 
Man's chief helper I have been ; 

Guide to life and beauty — when 
I, from reed, became a pen. 

"Wisdom could not learn, except 
By the records I have kept; 

E'en the poet's songs were naught. 
Till by me on tablets wrought; 

63 



"Need of me there was, to frame 
Even thy pretentious claim. 

Man owes all of his fair dower 
To the magic of my power/' 

Said the poet: — "Nay; the reed 
Ne'er conceived the pen. Indeed, 
Soul did not man's need disclose, 
Till he thought about a rose. 

"To detain that vision, then 
From the reed he shaped a pen; 

But the prompting thought man owes 
To the beauty of the rose. 

"But though beauty, more than skill, 
Wakes achievements of the will, 
Songs that seek the heart to win 
Come but from the soul within." 



YET SHE HEARS NOT 

MY Love! I call her through the empty woods, 
Adown the winds; and all my votive lays 
Reiterate her name in various moods; 
Yet she hears not, but keeps accustomed ways. 



64 



LOVE'S RECOMPENSE 

WHILE through the years my songs were wrought 
From memories of love's tryst and tourney, 
To what a garden love hath brought 
My feet at last to end life's journey 1 

In this fair garden of delight 

The roses of a lifetime bloom; 
And whether they be red or white, 

Each breathes its own distinct perfume. 

One holds the scent of love first born ; 

One hath the fragrance of a kiss, 
And one was on her bosom worn, 

And hath partaken of its bliss. 

One is that exquisite, white rose 
That opes on fancy's chastened heights — 

A bloom of June mid mountain snows — 
Which most of all the soul delights. 

Its charms of beauty, grace and scent, 

Such wealth and blessedness enclose, 
What garden could my soul content, 

That did not hold this ideal rose? 



65 



L'ENVOI 

Dear Friend, though seen by other eyes. 
Your heart must read through all disguise 
What hidden meaning underlies 
This fragrant greeting. 

For you these humble flowers grow; 
To you their sweet-breathed greetings go — 
The message you already know 
Once more repeating. 

As summer's heat unfolds the rose. 
So will the heart's warm glow unclose 
That tender flower, that only blows 
From love's entreating; 

And, haply, as your footsteps wend 
These rose-twined paths, they will portend 
That you shall find your "journeys end 
In lovers meeting." 



66 



IN ARCADY 



rO Arcady hast never heenf 
Then let me give the mystic key — 
The password that shall take thee in 
To Arcady. 

Love — love that worketh charity; 

That holdeth all mankind as kin; 
That beareth human sympathy. 

Love is the only door therein; 

And love, the "open sesame," 
Whereby thou may'st an entrance win 
To Arcady. 

— Set to music by Ethelbert Nevln. 



68 



POETRY 

CAN any one suppose 
The grafting of a rhyme 
Upon the end of prose, 

Makes feeble thoughts sublime? 
As well with scent propose 
To make a weed — a rose! 

If one a fragrant rose 

Into the verse entwine, 
It is no longer prose; 

Even the simplest line 

Becomes a singing bird, 
With notes before unheard. 

A poem is a dream, 

Made real to him who hears ; 
It is a captured gleam 

From the unseen, that cheers. 
And puts the halo's grace 
Around the commonplace — 

A glimpse of loveliness; 

A rapture that entreats. 
Though words but half express 
What the mind's eye completes. 
While a sweet music sings 
From subtly cadenced strings. 



69 



A poem is the song 

All human hearts translate — 
And ne'er translate it wrong, 
Though inarticulate; 

And this is its high art — 
It lingers in the heart. 



THE TRANSFORMATION 

MY heart was but a voiceless reed 
That nodded by a drowsy stream, 
Till thou didst fill it with thy breath— 

Thy breath that waked it from its dream. 
And now it hath become a flute, 

That pipes how blest my life hath been— 
More blest because accompanied 
By music thou hast breathed therein. 



SOMEBODY 

SOMEBODY keeps all my garden abloom, 
Bringing me treasures, both old and new; 
Somebody's pathway leaves a perfume, 

Which, when I follow it, leads me to you. 
Somebody sent me a beautiful rose 

Grown in the garden of her good will, 
But I am doubting if somebody knows 
Half of the need that her good wishes fill. 
70 



THE BLUE BIRD 
Maeterlinck's Bird of Happiness 

THE bird housed in my heart, what need 
Has he of more to satisfy — 
With pinions from all bondage freed, 
And the illimitable sky? 

The edge of his far-reaching wings 

Revives my life with gentle beat. 
Heals with its soothing touch, and brings 

New strength unto my failing feet * 

The bird's own self is in my song; 

And even the song is sweeter still 
When my own thought and feeling long 

The need of sympathy to fill. 

When love took flight, then fled the bird ; 

But to the fugitive I cry, 
"Hast thou for me no lyric word 

That need and longing to supply?" 

I ask in turn the nomad cloud, 
The wandering wind, the homeless sea; 

Through woodland wastes I cry aloud, 
"O bird, hast thou forsaken me?" 

How can one ask a song from me, 
Who am but the poor instrument? 



♦ The eagle revives his sick mate by brushing her with the 
tips of his wings. 

71 



Ask it of Love, for only he 
The poet is, and can content. 

The bird flown from my heart, what need 

Had he of more to satisfy — 
With pinions from all bondage freed, 

And the illimitable sky? 



THE BLUE BIRD'S RETURN 

OBLUE Bird, O wild bird, 
Where is thy place of nesting? 
I hear thy song. 
The way along — 
But vain has been my questing. 

O Blue Bird, O blithe bird, 
I've found thy place of nesting; 

For when I sing 

Thy song, I bring 
An end to heart's unresting. 

O Blue Bird, O dream bird, 
My heart's thy place of nesting; 

For in heart's rest 

Is found thy nest, 
However vain life's questing. 



72 



THOU SHALT CALL, AND I WILL ANSWER 

Jeremiah XXXIIL 3. 

THUS said the Lord :— "As sentinel, 
I stand to guard Love's citadel; 
When Evil's stealthy steps creep near 
That overwhelm thy heart with fear, 
And thou for help shalt call on me, 
Then surely I will answer thee." 

O Friend, who standest on the height, 
All panoplied in aureate light. 
To guard the way to love and truth 
Against the world's assault and ruth; 
When lurking foes my post assail 
And all my strength and courage fail 
Before those ambushed doubts and fears 
That sap the faith and trust of years; 
When from my solitude I call 
For words of cheer to lift the pall, 
O thou, whose strength is tenderness. 
And whose commission is to bless — 
Wilt thou not answer, and dispel 
That fearsome dread with, "All is well?" 



73 



COMPLAINT TO SPRING 

O SPRING, why lingerest thou so long, 
When all the birds should homeward wing 
Their way with hymeneal song, 
Thou laggard Spring? 

And what delayeth thee so long? 

Have birds forgotten to take wing, 
And thou art tethered to their song. 
Forgetful Spring? 

Is it the snow of mountain heights 

About the sleeping valley clings, 
And every peeping flower affrights — 
That numbs thy wings? 

The little song-bird is a-cold; 

How can joy fill the notes he sings 
Without some sunshine to unfold 
His heart — and wings? 

Cannot one timid flower grow, 

In spite of frost and cold, to bring — 
Like the arbutus through the snow — 
Promise of Spring? 

And yet, there is one blissful song, 

A never-ending song of Spring — 
And birds of memory prolong 
Its ministering. 

74 



It is the sweetest song on earth, 

Which plays upon life's tenderest string- 
The song, remembering the birth 
Of love's sweet spring. 



SPRING'S RETURN 

SWEET Spring, thy bloom bedims the snow ; 
Thy fragrant breath is heaven inspired; 
Even Solomon was never so 
In beauty tired. 

Thou must have heard my wistful cry 

Through earth's remotest corners ring, 
That thou could'st even time outfly 
With thy fleet wing. 

With telepathic flash and speed. 

Before my song had ceased to sing 
In even my own ears, the need 
Was filled, dear Spring. 

***** 
Ah! Friend, while all greet Spring's return, 

'Tis I am most delighted, now 
Through all disguises I discern 
That it is thou. 



75 



In thy fresh bloom and radiance, 

Thou bringest me a new content, 
For there is in thy winsome glance 
Spring's promise blent. 

ADMIRATION 

Sweetest eyes were ever seen. 

— Camoens. 

SWEETEST eyes were ever seen." 
Could the poet e'er devise 
Rarer praise than gave Catrine, 
Sweetest eyes? 

And which are the sweetest eyes ? 

Soft and melting, lustrous, keen, 
Merry — or demure and wise? 

Eyes that shine with light serene, 

Mirrored from love's happy skies — 
Like thine own, dear, are, I ween, 
Sweetest eyes. 
— Set to music by Ethelbert Nevin. 



WHEN IT IS DAY 

NOT till the sunshine of her eyes 
Irradiates my heart and way; 
Not till the mists of absence rise 
Am I made conscious it is day. 

76 



REFUSAL 

TWAS said so tenderly, 
"No, dear, it cannot be" ; 
Her gentle sympathy 

Half the hurt mending. 
Still 'tis a grievous blow, 
And it is hard to know, 
After mj'- caring so 
This is the ending. 

Ah, well ! another flower — 
Child of both sun and shower. 
Earth's fairest, sweetest dower — 

Mown by the Reaper; 
Yet in my memory pent, 
Stays that sweet flower's scent; 
And all my prayers are blent 

With one, "God keep her." 



THY FACE 

God's own smile came out; 
That was thy face. — Browning. 

O GENTLE friend that standest near 
My heart, if in my face be shown 
What seems to thee, God's smile — 'tis, dear, 
But the reflection of thine own. 



77 



EXILED FROM LOVE 

EXILED indeed from love and joy! 
No more the sunshine of her eyes 
Will light the pathway of my hope 
To Paradise. 

What though God's angel drives me forth 

From peace, and all return denies 1 
It is enough that I have been 
In Paradise. 

What though my heart forever ache! 

What though my eyes forever weep! 
Her loving lips hath given me 
A kiss to keep. 

What exile can proscribe my thoughts, 
Or banish me from memory even? 
They will return, and through the bars 
Look into Heaven. 



ONLY THE SONG 

OF praise and fame alone the embers 
Make warm the singer's lot; 
It is the Song, the world remembers — 
The singer is forgot. 



78 



WHEN LOVE IS DONE 

WHEN love is done, is nature's sigh; 
The Poet saith. "With dying sun 
The world's light dies" ; but all things die, 
When love is done. 

Love's skies with clouds are overrun ; 

The birds of trustfulness fly by; 
Hope's blossoms wither one by one. 

What does the world's praise signify — 

Or, what its prizes e'en when won? 
For me — I only wish to die, 
When love is done. 



AUF WIEDERSEHEN 

WHY mourn the soon-departing rose? 
Doth not June say, Auf Wiedersehenf 
What more enrapturing words than those 
That whisper, "We shall meet again?" 



79 



"SEND FOR ME!" 

** A ND when you want me, send for me!' 

■ATTL I wonder if you really meant, 
Or, only you did not foresee. 

All that was in this promise pent? 

How could I help but want you, dear, 
Who bring the sunshine to my room? 

Could I, but always want you near — 

The rose that keeps my heart abloom ! 

What though it may not bloom for me ! 

Its blessedness is not forsworn; 
While 'tis my joy the rose to see, 

'Tis more — to miss it, when 'tis gone. 



80 



THE ECHO OF A SONG 

YOU would not have me cease to sing? 
Do you not still some comfort find 
In these new melodies that wing 
Their constant flight from heart and mind? 

From somewhere echoing notes must come. 

If you forbid the singing, then — 
If doomed forever to be dumb, 

The memory will sing again. 

And you, who have so fine an ear. 
Must be acquainted with that song; 

Has it no more the power to cheer? 
Or, have you heard the strains too long? 

If I my homage must forego, 

And I no more may ply my art, 
The song although unvoiced, you know 

Will still keep singing in my heart. 



81 



T 



THE SNOW IS IN MY HAIR 

HE snow is in my hair, the frost is in my frame, 
The hopes of youth, in age can never be the same. 



I would not have you suffer pain and vain regret. 
Perhaps 'twere better that we both should now forget, 

Though it has been a rare and wondrous episode 
Upon life's wearisome and uneventful road. 

But though, alas ! our hands must tear themselves apart, 
I still shall keep this lovely blossom of your heart, 

The sweetest, dearest gift of life, to me, e'en though 
To fullest bloom it may for neither of us grow. 

With such delight I hold you in my heart's esteem 
No minor chords can ever mar the happy dream. 

'Tis only passion robs the casket of its gem. 
But my pure thought stoops but to kiss your garment's 
hem; 

The Primrose path my faithful feet have left untrod; 
That door I have kept locked, and left the key with 
God; 

It is to friendship all my votive lays belong, 
And no regretful tears shall interrupt this song; 

The memories of your ministry my life perfume, 
And how can I forget you made the desert bloom ? 
82 



JUNE IN CORTINA 

DEAR departed June, 
Thou has left this boon— 
My own heart with fragrance, joy and hope is still in 
tune. 

Was there ever known 
Rose that kept full blown 
For so long, with all its grace and beauty still unflown? 

Does it bring to you 
Memories anew, 
That still seek a resting place, and will not say, Adieu? 

Why must we thus part? 
Has the minstrel's art 
Failed to mend the broken strings that sang within 
your heart? 

Is affection lost? 
Can life pay the cost, 
If love, like a faded rose, from the heart be tossed? 

If it have not grace 
To fill the empty vase. 
Back on my own heart 'twill turn, for an abiding place. 



83 



ABSENCE 

SWEET Friend, since you have gone away, 
The stitches in life's web are dropped; 
All uneventful is the day, 
The music in my heart is stopped. 

As humming of a summer bee 

Upon a broken window pane. 
When suddenly he is set free; 

Then silence comes to brood again. 



THE UNATTAINED 

I GAVE my winged steed full rein. 
And in imagination's skies 
Found what on earth I sought in vain — 
For art may give what love denies. 

From life's desires the mind hath wrought 

A purer and diviner flame. 
Which even visualizes thought 

With new delights, beyond a name. 

This ideal love is what I've sought 
To fill my need, and be life's guest; 

Love were a dream, unless my thought 
Fulfilled the promise of the quest. 
84 



TO KNOW LOVE CARETH STILL 

I SENT my soul into the invisible, 
Some wistful word my far-off friend to tell; 
And this is what my soul brought back to me: — 
To know love careth still, and all is well. 

Though searching eyes thy face no longer see, 
My soul is never far, sweet friend, from thee. 

What though the hands be sundered? Heart to 
heart, 
In thought, love ever holdeth thee and me. 



LOVE'S SONG SINGS EVER 

IN the heart love's song sings ever, 
Though the eyes are brimmed with tears; 
Sings with an increasing sweetness. 
Through the echoing arch of years. 

And it stays, and haunts the silence, 

When heart's love is laid away, 
Like the singing harp-string's whisper, 
When the hands have ceased to play. 

— Set to music by Lisa Lehman. 

and G. Marschal Loepke. 



85 



ENTREATY 

LOVE hath invited you and me — 
A ghmpse of Eden to restore — 
To spend our lives in Arcady; 

If Love should seek to close the door, 
Why need affection wish to fly 

From fate and Love's divine behest? 
A willing prisoner am I 
If you are a contented guest. 

Love hath invited you and me, 

And waits God's word to close the door; 
And well provided you will be 

With his abundant eare and store. 
And why distrust the forge and fire 

That welds love's bonds inseparably? 
True love brings to disrobed desire 

The garments of God's purity. 



86 



MARRIAGE 

/WILL thy lot and portion share; 
Will love and honor thee^ and fill 
The measure of thy need, whate'er 
I will. 

This tender flower cherish, till 

In Heaven it blooms more bright and fair — 
For love in Heaven will blossom still; 

And love's fair flower hath made thee heir 

To a new life, beyond death's chill ; 
Eternity hath heard this dear, 
"I will." 
— Set to music by Ethelbert Nevin. 



87 



EPITHALAMIUM 

NOW in very truth thou art, 
Sweetheart, mine; 
Mine to hold close to ray heart; 
Mine to have, and ever prove, 
Arcady is in my love. 
Sweetheart mine. 

But before the nuptial door. 

Sweetheart mine. 
Closes on the nevermore, 
That first troth I would approve — 
Arcady is in thy love. 

Sweetheart mine. 

Folded in my happy arms, 

Sweetheart mine. 
Crowned with love's transcendent charms, 
Thy content and rapture prove, 
Arcady is mutual love. 

Sweetheart mine. 

— Set to music by Ethelbert Nevin. 



88 



PATERNITY 

A CLOUD came darkening up the west, 
And as its awesome pall drew near, 
It hushed the home with vague unrest, 
And filled my heart with nameless fear. 

I heard a rustle as of wings, 
And turning saw Death's angel fill 

The room; then froze life's very springs 
Within me, and my heart stood still. 

The dreadful presence, in the gloom. 
Bent o'er my love, smiled, and went by: 

When from the stillness of the room 
There faintly came — a little cry. 

And lo I from heaven an angel throng. 
As on that old-time Christmas morn, 

Took up anew their happy song, 
"For unto you a child is born." 



BIRTHDAY 

THE bells were told to ring in glee 
The day when first thou cam'st to be 
Our home's delight ; and in my heart, 
By love's supreme, mysterious art, 
These bells have rung unceasingly. 

And on this day there comes to me 
Anew the tender memory 

Of that deep joy, which but in part 
The bells were told. 

Dear child, in whose sweet eyes I see 
The Heaven that waits above for me, 

How far from me would Heaven depart; 

How comfortless would be my heart, 
li through some darkened day for thee 
The bells were tolled ! 



90 



MORE TO BE DESIRED THAN GOLD 
— From the Persian, 

OKING, 'tis justice that I ask of thee, 
And for an equal service but demand 
The same reward. Wherein excelleth he? 

And yet the ring thou gavest him is made 
Of purer gold than that thou gavest me. 

Nay, nay. Of equal valor, loyalty 
And truth hold I ye two — first in the realm; 

And I commanded that the rings should be 
Of equal fineness and of equal weight. 

How have I an injustice wrought on thee? 

O king I this is indeed the truth — in part ; 

But with the ring thou gavest him a kiss; 
That kiss hath given — beyond the goldsmith's art- 

An added weight and fineness to the gold, 
For with that kiss, O king, there went thy heart. 



91 



CHRISTMAS 

San Francisco, 1880. 

THE Christmas Bells from hill and tower 
To-night their benedictions shower; 
And on the waves of their sweet chimes, 
Fond thoughts of home and olden times 
Set sail through memory's Golden Gate; 
Deep laden with love's precious freight, 
They speed their homeward course to-night, 
Across the sea, with Ariel flight. 

O you, who wait returning sails, 
Whose eyes hope long deferred o'erveils 
With lowering clouds, take heart again I 
For lo! unseen through mist and rain 
Of tears, a thousand white-winged keels, 
Afloat on billowy Christmas peals. 
Seek haven in your hearts to-night. 
Home guided by love's beacon light. 

Dear friends, though sundered far and wide, 

Though varied quests our thoughts divide. 

May these rich argosies of love 

My tender, faithful memory prove! 

May they to-night new love awake, 

And in this festal season make 

Your hearts forget the old farewells, 

In greetings brought by Christmas Bells I 

92 



TRUE PATRIOTISM 

LIFE'S Rescript simply is to climb, 
Unheeding danger, toil and tire; 
Failure hath no attaint of crime, 
If one persistently aspire. 

Kinship with God makes men desire 
To hold the world in closer grip. 

And through love's gentleness acquire 
An altruistic fellowship. 

These aspirations have attained 
Ideals for which this Country stands, 

For which our fathers died — now gained 
And delegated to our hands. 

This heritage of trust and weal 
Has now become the world's great hope 

For freedom from Oppression's heel, 
For Aspiration's wider scope. 

To this world-call, have we reply 
Other than that our fathers gave? 

To guard this trust, what if we die. 
If dying is the way to save! 

Humanity hath instant need 
Of loyalty that seeks to serve, 

And even though death were its meed, 
From its ideal it would not swerve. 



93 



Life would have nothing worth to give, 
Had men not for their duty died; 

True patriots would scorn to live 
If they the sacrifice denied. 

O ye who love the soul's free air, 
Who seek the larger hope, arise 1 

For truth and justice do and darel 
Who cares to live when Freedom dies? 



NEW YEAR 

ANOTHER flower this day I bring— 
Love's unassuming offering; 
Perchance it may a fragrance leave, 
That will a pleasant memory weave 
Through all the year now opening. 

This day to you fond wishes wing; 
Dear heart, may their sweet blossoming 
In life's fair garden interweave 
Another flower! 

And may a quiet fragrance cling 
To every flower the kind fates fling 

About your path; ne'er cause to grieve 
May your contented heart receive; 
And each succeeding year still bring 
Another flower ! 



94 



MUSIC IN THE AIR 

ALAS ! I cannot sing," 
You sighed awhile ago ; 
But odors of the Spring 

Nor rhyme nor rhythm know ; 
And perfumes of the rose 
One hardly would call prose. 

There is no need to be 

A lark or nightingale 
To turn to poesy 

E'en life's habitual, "Hail"; 
A friendly hand and heart 
Exceed the ministrel's art. 

The world is all a-tune, 

And all the leaves beat time, 
And even winter's rune 

Presages Springtime's rhyme; 
And friendship in heart-beats 
Life's rhythm but repeats. 



95 



L'ENVOI 

MAY friendship's ministry to thee be kind. 
And all life's sad remembrances efface! 
Bring back the joys, reluctantly resigned 
To hope! And that thou may est their comfort find, 
I wish thee thine own wish in every place! 

May my poor measures also hearten thee. 
And all the singing stops of joy release! 

May they retuue the inharmonious key. 
And lend to life's completed melody 
An undertone of sweet content and peace! 



96 



AFTERGLOW 



r'HE symbol does not more 
Than faintly shadow the reality; 
The exquisite and evanescent rose 
May open wide the door 
Of Beauty, hut it cannot ever he 
Th' Unknown alone should to the soul disclose 
Itself in symbol's lore; 
That life the soul conceives, eternity 
Breathes now, and immortality bestows. 



98 



CONSIDER THE LILIES 

Matt. VI. 28-29. 



LIKE one of these, art hath not made 
Apparel that our e3^es can please; 
Even Solomon was not arrayed 
Like one of these. 

Consider how they grow at ease 

And leisure, dancing in the glade 
Like butterflies upon the breeze. 

Then be not thou with burdens weighed; 

If He a flower's need o'ersees, 
Thou, too, shalt on His care be laid, 
Like one of these. 



99 



WHAT THE CHILD-SOUL SAID TO THE 

MOTHER 
In heaven their angels do ahvays behold the face of 
my father. — Matt, xviii. 10. 

AS I beheld God's face, 
I heard Love calHng me 
Out of the boundless space, 
Across life's mystery. 
Across life's mystery 
Will grief and pain wait me. 

If I, beguiled, become a child, 
And come to dwell with thee? 

But love constraineth me 

With its soft, mother call, 
And I must needs choose thee 

To bear me through earth's thrall. 

To bear me through earth's thrall, 
Up to love's highest bliss, 

I need to know Life's weal and woe. 
And feel a mother's kiss. 

So I have come to thee, 

In thy white arms to stay. 
That thou may'st mother me 

Through life's uncertain way. 

Through life's uncertain way 
Love, too, shall make thee blest. 

Until at last, our travail past. 
Both find love's perfect rest. 
100 



WHY FEAR? 

"Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure 
in life. — The last words of Charles Frohman on the 
sinking Lusitania. 

WHY should I fear death's call? Can there e'er be 
In life more beautiful adventure, than 
To re-embark upon that unknown sea — 
That mystery from which love summoned me — 
Upon whose hither shore my life began? 

So gently was I brought, that when life laid 

Me on time's bosom I was not aware; 
And when at length I knew that I was made 
Like her who bore me, then no more afraid 

Was I, lest love should fail of tender care. 

And when with an instructed mind, I read 
The law that nature hath to me revealed, 
I know His love will satisfy each need. 
That life's adventurous hope will find its meed, 
And every lacerated heart be healed. 

And I have learned, He doeth all things well. 

Yet life, from its own incompleteness, holds 
A need, instinctive, which it cannot tell — 
Of future greeting for each last farewell, 

Of happiness, united love enfolds. 



101 



All forms of life are endless ; each frail vase 

Is emptied o'er and o'er — but filled again; 
And never tangled is the wondrous maze 
Of nature's melodies through endless days — 
And yet forever new and sweet to men. 

Gleams hint that life upon some future waits; 

The worm cannot forecast the butterfly; 
And yet the transformation but creates 
A step in the same Nature which now mates 

Our own — and may life's mystery untie. 

The butterfly, new-fledged this message brings : 

"The law, uncomprehended, I obey; 
Although the lowliest of earth-bred things. 
Even I have been reborn with urgent wings, 

And heavenward fly — who crept but yesterday." 

The earth hath given me its honied store; 

In its fair garden I have had my day; 
Now, unknown lengthening vistas to explore, 
I set my face unto that other shore, 

And with this new adventure end the Play. 

In life's fair mansion I am but a guest 

And life will bring fulfillment of the gleam ; 
I trust this last adventure is the best, 
The crowning of this earthly life's behest, 
The consummation of the poet's dream. 



102 



EASTER 

'' \ RISE!" went forth a mighty voice, "all ye 
-^J^ That sleep 1" O earthborn lily, who told thee 

To come forth with the living from the dead? 

The white-robed lily answered, "The great head 
And heart of Nature, God himself, called me. 

"He said, 'The Christ is risen!' and tenderly 
My earth}' cerements loosing. He bade me, 

Too, — following the way the Christ hath led — 
Arise." 

Trust thou this promised Immortality, 
O troubled, doubting heart! Fear not that He, 
Who wakes the lowly lily from her bed, 
Whose own hands loose the graveclothes from her 
head, 
Will Easter Day forget to say to thee, 
"Arise!" 



103 



A WHISPER OF HEAVEN 

IMPRISONED in the shell 
Are echoes of the far-off ocean's roar. 
May not our hopes of Immortality, 
That deep within us dwell — 
Instinctive to the soul, and more and more 
Insistent to the heart — may they not be 
Soul echoes of the swell, 
That ceaseless beats on an Eternal shore? 



T 



THEN COMETH THE NIGHT 

HE sun hath set — but set hath not my love 
Not set, only obscured by clouds above. 
The sun will rise — ^but love was earlier up ; 
And with content and joy hath filled my cup. 



It cannot be, love's sun will set, for lo I 
Its radiance deepens with the evening glow; 
The Night fulfills the soul's envisioned gleam. 
And is the consummation of love's dream. 



104 



THE CALL OF THE SEA 

THE sea, the crooning, mothering sea 
And human sympathy — together. 
The sea was ever kind to me, 
And sweet is human sympathy. 

I hear the call, but know not whether 
'Tis from the sea, — or, dear, from thee. 

Although the sea inspires like wine, 

Without Love's touch — so deft at smoothing 

Care's rumpled pillow — I would pine; 

And though broad-breasted and benign. 
Do pain and heartache find their soothing 

Upon her bosom — or on thine? 

The sea hath harmonies that throng 
The soul, some answering chord entreating; 

But do these strains, heart-tuned and strong, 

To ocean's orchestra belong? 

The sea's refrain, are they repeating? — 

Or are they thy fond, wistful song? 



105 



SINGING HARP-STRINGS 

LIFE holds no music like the symphony 
Of heart-caressing chords that throb and thrill 
Under the friendly hand of sympathy ; 

It haunts my loneliness; that harp-string's trill 
Still sings within my heart its melody 
E'en though to other ears the harp is still. 



A BRIDAL SONG 

ONCE a little wandering Sunbeam, 
In celestial tire arrayed, 
Came, and filled our home with sunshine, — 
And behold ! the sunshine stayed ; 

Filled the home with smiles and laughter. 

Kept the bloom upon the rose, 
Gave to life new heart and savor, 

Until now — the sunshine goes. 

Though the hearthstone be o'erclouded, 
Love knows, — though the footsteps roam. 

Our dear Sunbeam keeps on shining; 
It but lights another home. 



106 



HEAVEN IS HERE 

AND where is Heaven, think'st thou? 
Beyond earth's boundary — 
So hid in mystery, 
We reach it only at Hfe's end, 
And know 
Not even where, nor when, nor how? 
Not sol 
If we but rightly apprehend. 

It is the love in mother's eyes ; 
It is the pledge of nature's skies. 
The blossoming devotion of the bough; 
It is in baby's happy smiles. 
In sympathy, that grief beguiles. 
And in true service to a friend. 
My Heaven ever lies 
In love's dear eyes, — 
In tender words, that deathless trust avow. 
Love is creation's source and end, 

The purpose of the world God planned; 
Love is the only Promised Land, 
And love is Heaven — and Heaven is here and now. 



107 



THE DIVINE SECRET 

WHEN we together set our sail 
The hither shore of love to find, 
What terrene tides or winds avail 
To reach the goal hid in the mind? 

Earth's heights and depths may be explored, 
But love's domain can never be ; 

Immeasurable, it stretches toward 
The confines of Eternity. 

Imagination's realm is fair, 

And argosies of beauty sail 
From that mysterious region where 

Only God's love may lift the veil. 

God's love is joy. The universe 

Is vibrant with creative song, 
Whose harmonies His love rehearse. 

And His beneficence prolong. 

God's joy is love, which Nature hides 
In flower and tree, in clay and man; 

And her behests are sovereign guides, 
Because interpreting God's plan. 

And from these dimly visioned heights. 
E'en though the way seems barred, the soul 

God's purposed happiness invites. 
To compass and complete life's whole. 

108 



THE VISION FROM THE HEIGHTS 

Isaiah LII. 7. 

HOW beautiful upon 
The mountains are the feet 
Of them that tidings bring 
Of Love — God's own heartbeat! 

Upon the mountain tops 

The soul steps from the sod 
Of earthly thought upon 

A nearer path to God; 

And finds His perfectness, 
As from each summit gained 

There stretch forth heights beyond — 
Ideals to be attained. 

What though they be obscured 

By mists of earth's desire ! 
Above the clouds their peaks 

Eternally aspire. 



109 



THE MOUNTAINS ARE HIS TEMPLE 

IF just beyond earth's veiling clouds is heaven, 
Then surely here a path to heaven is given; 
For, far beyond the reach of human eye, 
Stretch peak on peak into the eternal sky, 
As stepping stones,, which shape an earthly stair 
To knowledge of God's constancy and care — 
To apprehension of His presence and 
The nearness of His all-supporting hand. 

Here the o'er-arching sky bends down to cloister weary 

feet 
That from life's pilgrimage and empty quest seek a 

retreat. 

More grand than earthly temple is this shrine; 
Its aisles are carpeted with velvet pine; 
Its altars incensed with the breath of fir, 
Whose organ notes men's hearts to freedom stir; 
Its windows glow with every gorgeous hue 
From prismed sunrise to the midday blue, 
And only earth-begotten blindness bars 
His presence from the sunset and the stars. 

The raptured soul finds peace and joy in this majestic 

fane, 
Renews its faith, and with new strength takes up life's 

tasks again. 



110 



THE NEW DAWN 

THE world would say, my friend is dead- 
Hath rested from this earthly strife; 
But faith holds, he hath onward sped, 
And hath but found a larger life. 

Is life's poor structure all we build, 
Whose tenure's bound is but a breath? 

Has life the law of love fulfilled? 
Or, why abides love after death? 

Too dimly does life's vision see 

The loving Tenderness above; 
And life needs an eternity 

To know this all-encircling love. 



Ill 



AN EASTER THOUGHT 

THE lilies hear the Easter call, 
And wake their promise to repeat. 
Why should the cypress wreath appal? 
Can aught to love and thee befall, 
Where bides the imprint of His feet? 



HEAVEN ENFOLDS US ALL 

WHAT matters it the name we bear, 
Or how God's word is understood? 
We trust His love enfolds us all, 
And know His name is. Good. 



IN HIS SERVICE 

THE World maintains, the sum of living 
Is what is gained, but Love conceives. 
Life's satisfaction is in giving — 
And not what it receives. 



112 



LOVE IS THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW 

TO one who reads with an instructed mind 
The book of law, that nature hath unclosed, 
Conviction comes that He who guides the stars — 
Who gathereth into His benignant arms 
The lambs, and feedeth them, who slumbers not, 
Nor sleeps — can have no other name than LOVE. 
And love — this tender human love, that walks 
With us through life in various guise, that shares 
Our burdens, soothes our sorrows, leads us even 
Beyond death's portal — is God's thought in us 
That hints the measure of His love and care. 
The Master came, with love ineffable, 
And told of kinship with that loving law, 
And taught a human phrase, "Our Father." But 
On loftier heights of thought, the soul perceives 
That God is even nearer — immanent, 
And templed in His own enduring love; 
And through the cloistered arches of this love — 
The dwelling-place of God — there echoes back 
That still, small Voice which spake on Horeb's mount; 
And the awakened soul, because it hath 
An ear to hear this Heavenly Visitor, 
Affirms its birthright to divinity, 
And claims its own identity with God. 

Upon the restful bosom of this Love 
Divine, the soul is satisfied, and in 



113 



Supreme content, bears witness in itself, 
That love is the fulfilling of the Law. 



SUFFER THE CHILDREN 

Mark X. 14. 

''QUFFER the children to come unto me!" 
O In this, the Master's word, must my trust be. 

How can I make my life spotless and sweet, 
That I lead not astray these little feet! 

How can I, all begrimed, bound in sin's bands, 
Ever be fit to hold these little hands ! 

If but my soul were pure, strong to withstand, 
I might the children lead to Thy right hand ; 

I am but weak, and so my prayer must be : 
"Suffer the children to come unto Thee !" 



114 



A GOLDEN WEDDING 

THE day was fair, the sky aglow, 
That greeted you, a happy pair, 
A full half century ago ; 
Now, to what hosts — this day is fair ! 

Those wedding bells for fifty years 
Have rung alternate joys and knells. 

Till now a deepened Icve endears 
The memory of those wedding bells. 

With spreading vine new leaves are grown 
So children's children interwine 

Affection's tendrils, till is thrown 
A fresher shade — vv^ith spreading vine. 

Each brings his meed of truth unstained — 
The fruitage of well-nurtured seed; 

And from each added talent gained 
In wisdom's ways, each brings his meed. 

To-day all bring a new largesse 
Of loving greeting — a new Ring 

To plight, with that old-time caress. 
The blessings which to-day all bring. 

These fifty years to you have brought 
Much more of happiness than tears ; 

While life has many lessons taught 
Of mutual trust, these fifty years; 

lis 



And life has taught, that hearts are worn, 
If not upheld by constant thought; 

That burdens shared are easiest borne; 
That love needs sunshine — life has taught. 

As years go by, with ruddier glow 
May love adorn your sunset sky! 

And closer may your hearts still grow, 
And life be joy — as years go by! 

This golden stair, you pass to-day — 

May it foretell a vision rare 
Of joy — when ends this mortal Way, 

And where begins Life's Golden Stair ! 
August 21, 1917. 



THE MASTER SAITH 

WHEN Love hath satisfied thy heart, 
Is't for thyself alone to keep? 
wakened Soul, what is thy part? 
The Master saith, "Feed thou my sheep!" 



116 



LOVE'S ETERNAL TROTH. 

SWEET is the pain when lovers part — 
Each passioned kiss love's troth repeating 
But every parting kiss enfolds 
The promise of another meeting. 

So Love plights an eternal troth 

From realms beyond our vision's charting; 
And every kiss is Love's new pledge, 

To be redeemed, despite death's parting. 

Take heart 1 'Tis only for a while, 
And absence makes the lost ones dearer; 

Love wins the victory over death, 
That brings the promised meeting nearer. 



117 



EYE HATH NOT SEEN 
It doth not yet appear what we shall he. 

I John III: 2. 

O GRIEVING ones, whose feet still linger 
About the headstones love hath reared, 
The grave holds not the dear affection. 
Which is by memory so revered. 

Think you that, "Earth to earth" is nature's 

Obituary for the dead? 
Nay; it is rather life's own promise 

That nature's round it still will tread. 

What we call death is but the changing 
Of outward form of garments shed; 

And for their rehabilitation 
This pall of earth has been o'erspread. 

For in the boundless realm of nature 
Not even the smallest atom dies — 

But strives, through endless transformations, 
New shapes of beauty to devise. 

As elements resolve in order, 

And in predestined moulds divide. 
Who knows in what new forms of beauty 

May love and joy and memory hide? 



18 



BE YE COMFORTED 
Red Cross Relief for the Bereaved. 



" -"^OMEWHERE in France," she said, "there is a grave, 



S' 



Which all my hope and happiness contains — 
My boy, my first-born, beautiful and brave, 
Who mother, wife and home — and all things gave. 
To prove that loyalty to right still reigns." 

What has the world to give, that can repay 

For such devotion and self-sacrifice? 
And what are plaudits, praise and crowning bay 
To those who grieve for lost ones, torn away 
From life? — and it is they who pay the price. 

Where is the healing balm, that can assuage 

This mortal hurt, and tender soothing bring? 
Life's song is stilled — the bird gone from the cage, 
And tears bedim the mind's sustaining page. 
That once was wont to give the spirit wing. 

Within the heart the solace will be found, 

For it has learned, a Larger Love controls ; 

And though with earthly garments love is wound, 

It is not to this earth forever bound, 
For to its sight eternity unrolls. 

Behind the cloud of doubt there is a light 

That bids the lonely, sorrowing heart rejoice; 



119 



Nature herself gives promise to requite 
Love's loss — that we shall have love back to sight, 
And hear again its unforgotten voice. 

Why may love suffer death — and not be killed? 

And how can memory haunt this life — and then, 
Forgetting all, forever more be stilled? 
Life would be vain if love were unfulfilled; 

Love is, itself, the pledge, it lives again. 

That love, which ever stronger grows, constrains 
Belief, the After Life is no Perchance; 

It cannot be, the Loving Care ordains 

That for eternity death's hand detains 

Heart's love in that dumb grave somewhere in 
France. 



TRUST 

WHEN we this earthly chrysalis discard, 
Existence may have unimagined charms. 
Why need we fear, because to vision barred? 
Beyond all thought and vistas yet unstarred. 
Are still the Everlasting Arms. 



120 



PARTING 

BE pitiful with thy keen sorrow, 
Inexorable and dread to-morrow ! 
Take her in gentle arms alway; 
Soothe her with thoughts of yesterday 1 

Hath Yesterday lost its charms 
To soothe To-day in her white arms? 
The sun can ne'er set, chill and gray, 
Behind the hills of yesterday. 

Fear not, dear friend! Close to my heart 
Until the end thou ever art; 
Too close to leave thee room to borrow 
Such sad forebodings of the morrow. 

Therefore, dear heart, trust hopefully! 
Time cannot part my thought and thee ; 
No distance, scene, nor age can stay. 
The love that overflows to-day. 

And, dear, in heaven to-morrows stay 
No more; not even a yesterday 
Can ever come with shadowed brow 
To darken that eternal Now. 



121 



TRANSLATIONS 

LA VIE 

JT A vie est vaine, 
JL^ Un pen d'amour, 
Un peu de haine; 
Et puis — b on jour. 

La vie est breve, 

Un peu d'espoir, 
Un peu de reve; 

Et puis — bonsoir" 

— Leon Montenaeken. 



AH ! life is vain ; 
Short is love's way, 
And full of pain; 
And then — good day. 

How brief life seems ! 

And hope's delight 
Ends but in dreams; 

And then — good night! 



SELF RELIANCE 

— Victor Hugo. 

THE bough bends low beneath the bird; 
But he serenely swings, 
By storm and swaying branch unstirred — 
Knowing that he hath wings. 

122 



THE FEET OF CLAY 

ALAS! m}'- feet are clay!" Yes — but refined 
From common earth and freed from soil's access- 
Compounded with sweet memories — combined 

With steadfastness and quick responsiveness — 
Rare, priceless clay. But have j^ou never thought 

That it is from this self-same, earthy clay 
The statue's first embodiment was wrought? 
Love's chiseled perfectness, in this same way, 
Is modeled in the clay, with tears and sighs, 
Before it finds its niche in Paradise. 



"AND KEEP THE DOOR AJAR!" 

DEAR friend, the door will be ajar — 
Will ever be ajar to you; 
There never shall be bolt nor bar 
When your desire and presence sue. 

So close is your companionship — 

Closer than hands, nearer than breath- 
Its goal, life's vistas must outstrip. 
And I shall want you after death. 

If first I reach the Heavenly Gate, — 
Love's promised blessing to renew, 

I shall but ask that I may wait, 
And keep the door ajar — for you. 

123 



BEYOND THE WALL 

A ROSE-TREE in our garden grew, 
And spread its branches far and wide; 
It overtopped the wall, and threw 
Some clusters on the other side. 

So in our heart love's roses bloom. 
Whose fragrance ever dearer' grows ; 

Our garden holds the same perfume. 
E'en though we cannot see the rose. 

Mourn not the loved no longer seen, 

For love is not beyond recall ! 
Though thought may never pierce the screen. 

That love blooms just beyond the wall. 



124 



IF HEARTS ARE DUST 

IF hearts are dust, heart's loves remain, 
And somewhere, far above the plane 
Of earthly thought — beyond the sea 
That bounds this life, they will meet thee, 
And hold thee face to face again. 

And when is done life's restless reign, 
If I hereafter but regain 

Heart's love, why should I troubled be, 
If hearts are dust? 

By love's indissoluble chain, 

I know the grave does not retain 

Heart's love; the very faith in me 

Is pledge of an eternity. 
Where I shall find heart's love again, 
If hearts are dust. 



125 



LIFE MAY HAVE NEED OF DEATH 

INTO the ground earth's seed is shed; 
But does it die? Within its husk 

There is a living wraith 
That hovers round its resting place, 
And keeps alive its prototype. 
Into the ground are laid our dead, 
Away from life, into the dusk 

Of memory and faith — 
Torn from affection's fond embrace, 
As though a fruitage still unripe. 

Behind the husk, behind the human cell, 
Which only are a mundane heritance, 
There is a something still alive — 

Alive with independent thought and will 
Begotten not of earth; 
May not this living germ within the shell, 
That shapes its growth with neither whim nor 
chance — 
If such successive ripenings survive — 
Hint an immortal purpose to fulfill, 
That needs another birth? 

Take hope, O doubting Soul ! The buried seed. 
For all its pledge of life and of rebirth, 
Cannot release its vital, pregnant thought 
Within the spirit rife. 



126 



Till death resolve its cerements to earth. 

May it not be, as nature now hath wrought, 
Our wistful, earth-imprisoned soul may need 
The kindly, helpful hand of Death, to lead 
Unto that larger life? 



HOPE 

I 

IS ever happiness content. 
Though joy be given its fullest scope? 
Beyond every accomplishment 
Must be another hope. 

II 

Every hope is prophecy of Heaven, 

Laughs at bonds and bars before it spread, 

Looking fondly for fulfillment, even 
After all expectancy has fled. 



127 



HOLD THOU MY HANDS 

HOLD thou my hands a little while in thine, 
Thy gentle, restful hands, dear love benign! 
Smooth out their weariness with soft caress, 
As mothers do their children's restlessness, 
With fondling hands that love and rest combine! 

And when these inconsistent hands of mine. 
To wayward selfishness and wrong incline. 
In tender and compassionate duress. 
Hold thou my hands! 

And when I face the dark, and must resign 
Love's tender, human touch; must disentwine 

Its dear, detaining clasp ; when fears depress — 
Those mortal fears I cannot quite repress 
For all my faith and trust — O Love divine, 
Hold Thou my hands ! 



128 



EVENTIDE 

Zechariah XIV. 7. 

AT eventide there shall be light." 
Why should I ever fear the night? 
God's love and constant care attest, 
He will not suffer me, His guest, 
To thread the dark without a light. 

The light of life is love; and quite 
Content am I, if but love might 

Be near, when I lie down to rest, 
At eventide. 

And love, if we but read aright, 

Is God, who is the Light of Light. 

What fear have I from Love's behest, 

When Love through life hath made me blest? 

That, Love, I trust to be my light, 
At eventide. 



129 



THE CALLING VOICES 

THE world of beauty calleth me ! 
I hear the far-off forest's organ notes ; 
I hear the softer music of the bees; 
I see the pageant of the clouds, like boats 

Adrift upon aerial, shoreless seas; 
I feel the solemn grandeur of the hills, 
The rapturous enchantment of the rills, 

The ceaseless witchery of flovi/ers and trees. 

The world of friendship calleth me! 
Love may a larger happiness impart; 

For though the heart of nature brings repose. 
The sense of nearness to the human heart 

Gives greater joy than forest, hill or rose; 
It every need and longing satisfies. 
Unlocks the golden gate of Paradise, 

And immortality on life bestows. 

The world of fancy calleth me! 

If beauty and heart's love have taken flight, 

Then in the peace of my own soul I hide, 
And seek upon imagination's height, 

In gladness and contentment to abide, 
And out of hope, desire and memory, 
And visions of a waiting Arcady, 

A secret palace of delight provide. 



130 



The world be3''ond is calling me 1 

But over joy and earthly love and dream, 

When gleams, and glimpses fill the opal west, 
There stretches a new radiance — a beam 

That makes a path unto Love's perfect rest. 
The twilight slowly deepens into night, 
And I, serene, await the Morning Light, 

When life shall find fulfillment of its quest. 



SUNSET 

THE sun sinks low, and the shadow 
Steals slowly across my heart; 
But we shall meet in the Morning, 
And never more shall part. 



131 



L'ENVOI 

yf NO THER leaf in life's mysterious hook 
.^^ljBl To-day is turned. O friend beloved, I leave 
With you these humble flowers to mark the page, 
And haply give a perfume to the place. 
Which shall add fragrance unto all its leaves. 

That I might share with you the exquisite 
Delight that memory brings, I've sought to lay 
Upon these pages nuances of tint 
And color, to enliven hope — with here 
And there a study of life's meaning, worked 
Sometimes in smiles, sometimes in tears — if they 
Might wake long-silent chords of joy within 
Your heart, recapture your far-wandering thoughts. 
And lead them back to Arcady — and me. 



132 



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